The Vario Crew

The Vario Crew

Founded by	Lucchese crime family
Founding location	New York City
Years active	1950s-present
Territory	Various neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island and Staten Island
Ethnicity	Italian, Italian-American made men and Irish and other ethnicities as "associates"
Membership (est.)	Unknown
Criminal activities	Racketeering, bookmaking, loan-sharking, extortion, gambling, burglary, cargo theft, conspiracy, Counterfeit consumer goods, murder, smuggling, fencing, hotel robbery, hijacking and jewelry heist
Allies	Gambino, Genovese, Bonanno and Colombo crime families.
Rivals	Various gangs.

The Vario Crew is a group operating within the Lucchese crime family. It was controlled by capo Paul Vario from the early 1950s into the early 1980s, when Vario, Jimmy Burke and a number of other associates were imprisoned, primarily due to the testimony of another long-term associate, Henry Hill.

Hill's life in the Vario crew was the subject of the 1990 Martin Scorsese crime film Goodfellas, with Ray Liotta portraying Hill.

Today the crew is still active, but less influential than before and is currently led by Domenico Cutaia.

History

Paul Vario's power

Paul Vario received money from members of his crew and local criminals; Vario's crew was involved in hijacking cargo shipments from JFK Airport. His crew also ran several loansharking and bookmaking operations in Brooklyn.

James Burke was a close ally to Paul Vario. Burke ran a crew of hijackers that would pay off truck drivers and then unload the goods at a warehouse controlled by Paul Vario. Another ally to Vario was John Dioguardi, a Lucchese family capo who controlled unions in New York City. In the 1970s, when Paul Vario and Jimmy Burke were imprisoned, a majority of Vario's bookmaking operation were taken over by his Russian Jewish associate Martin Krugman.

Henry Hill's drug organization

Two of Vario's crew members, Henry Hill and Jimmy Burke, began dealing in heroin, cocaine, marijuana and amphetamines. Hill ran his criminal enterprise with his wife Karen, William Arico, Anthony Perla, Rocco Perla, Robin Cooperman and Judith Wicks. In early 1979, Burke and Hill began selling heroin.

After Robert "Bobby" Germaine Jr., the son of Henry Hill's drug partner, became an informant, Hill was monitored. In 1980, Hill was arrested for drug dealing and looking at several life-sentences. Instead he became an informant. Henry Hill's testimony led to 50 convictions. In 1980, on orders from James Burke, Angelo Sepe shot and killed Bobby Germaine Jr. in Kew Gardens, Queens. Jimmy Burke was given 20 years for fixing sporting events and a life sentence when the authorities convicted him for murdering scam-artist Richard Eaton. Paul Vario was given a 12½-year sentence during the KENRAC trial.

Robert's Lounge Crew

The Robert's Lounge Crew was a semi-independent group of criminals working under the Vario Crew led by Jimmy Burke based in his bar, Robert's Lounge. They were active from 1957 to 1979. The Robert's Lounge crew consisted of a number of members, some described as inept, and whose specialties included hijacking, armed robbery and murder. Although an independent outfit, they were closely associated with the Lucchese Family through which Burke had a longtime friendship and working relationship with Paul Vario.^[1]

Historical leadership

Caporegimes

• 1950s–1988 – Paul Vario — in 1984 he was sentenced to 12-years in prison sentenced and died on May 3, 1988
  • Acting 1970–1988 – Vito "Tuddy" Vario — younger brother to Paul Vario
• 1988–1991 – Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco — served as Street Boss from May 1990 to January 1991 then became the Acting Boss. He became a government witness on September 21, 1991.^[2]
• 1991–present – Domenico "Danny" Cutaia — released from prison on October 5, 2013.^[3]

Past members and associates of the crew

List of past members and associates who are retired, deceased or have been murdered.

Former headquarters and hangouts

The crew operates throughout the New York City metropolitan area, these are some of the former headquarters and hangouts.

• Robert's Lounge – was the former headquarters of Jimmy Burke's crew, located on Lefferts Boulevard and Rockaway Boulevard in South Ozone Park, Queens.^[6][7]
• The Bamboo Lounge – was a former hangout, located on Rockaway Parkway & Avenue N in Canarsie, Brooklyn.^[8][9][10]
• The Suite – was a former hangout, owned by Henry Hill located on Queens Boulevard near Forest Hills, Queens.^[10][11]
• The Lefferts Bar –^[10]
• Others: Euclid Taxi Cab Company in Brownsville, Brooklyn, Bargain Auto Junkyard and Kew Motor Inn

Government informants and witnesses

• Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco – became a witness on September 21, 1991
• Henry Hill – associate, became a witness in 1980, died on June 12, 2012^[5]
• Richard Bilello – associate, murdered on October 28, 1974
• Peter Gruenwald – associate, became a witness in 1978,^[4] died in 1979
• Theresa Ferrara – she became a government informant and disappeared on February 10, 1979^[4]

In popular culture

• The 1990 film Goodfellas is based on the Vario Crew and the life story of crew associate Henry Hill.

References

Notes

Sources

• Nicholas Pileggi, Wiseguy: Life In A Mafia Family (1986)
• Greg and Gina Hill. On the Run: A Mafia Childhood
• May, Allan. The Lufthansa Heist Revisited. TruTv.com